And I suspect that Steve will disagree with me, but I am so freaking tired of the Republican leadership egging on the crazies. The other day, Steve King told a crowd ""Let’s beat that other side to a pulp! Let’s take them out! Let’s chase them down! There’s going to be a reckoning!" Sarah Palin told her fans to "reload" and used the scope target image over Democrats who voted for healthcare. I think these people are hideously irresponsible--not because they intend this to translate into violence, but because they are egging on people who talk about "coming unarmed, this time."
TPM has a map of actual vandal attacks or threats on Democratic members, including sending pictures of nooses to Stupak and others. Tea Partiers published the address of Virginia Rep Tom Perriello's brother (thought they were publishing the Rep's home, obviously) and "urged others to “drop by” and “express their thanks” for Perriello’s vote in favor of health care reform." They later found a severed gas line at the back of the house. And the list goes on.
How is it that the right does this stuff and we don't talk about terrorism. That is what these acts are. And the Republican leadership encourages this behavior. They pander to people who don't realize they don't actually want violence against their political foe.
This, I would add, is also what you get when supposed leaders refer to Obama and his healthcare as the end of American democracy. Words have meaning, and these kinds of irresponsible words have infected our dialogue with the worst kind of uninformed hatred. It is unbelievable. Disagree with this fucking bill all you want. There are very legitimate complaints about it from a philosophical and economic perspective. But Republicans have chosen to play to the idiots in their base who talk about "armed revolution." Then these same Republicans act shocked when idiots spit on Congressmen, or send them threatening letters and emails. You don't get to act surprised when you urge them on. Sorry.
38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is 'doing many of the things that Hitler did'"
As Bruce Bartlett said when a similar Kos Poll showed this kind of craziness, "between 20% and 50% of the party is either insane or mind-numbingly stupid."
Though I am not completely sure that the Bartlett comment should not still stand. :)
4 comments:
Thank you for your post. I was beginning to think I was the only one who felt this way, Do you remember the smashing of records of the Dixie Chicks. What is wrong with these people, how can you justify spitting on a congressman or comparing the leader of the free world to Hitler. We are a good example for the rest of the world. Shame on us.
And I suspect that Steve will disagree with me
Not this time. Some in the GOP are behaving themselves, but others are behaving terribly. I think domestic terrorism is an apt description.
I think Tomasky's point is really well taken. The difference here is not between right wing crazies from now and the left wing crazies from the 60s or the occasional eco-terrorist. The comparison is how each party has responded.
Even when Republicans denounce these things, they often excuse them as "understandable." This is what happens when you paint healthcare reform as Soviet-style totalitarianism, or armageddon.
I don't know. I heard some "understanding" after the attack on the IRS, but the GOP'ers that have denounced the current violence have done a good job, IMO, and haven't really excused it. Unfortunately, there have been others who have just fanned the flames and made it worse.
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